Breaking News in Lee County. A Lee County MEDSTAR Chopper went down in the waters off of Upper Captiva earlier this morning. According to Diane Holm of the Lee County Public Safety, all crew members survivedMore >>

Breaking News in Lee County. A Lee County MEDSTAR Chopper went down in the waters off of Upper Captiva earlier this morning. According to Diane Holm of the Lee County Public Safety, all crew members survivedMore >>

County manager Karen Hawes is working to get to the bottom of what happened leading up to the MEDSTAR shutdown, but there have been questions from some about Hawes herself, and the decisions she made.More >>

County manager Karen Hawes is working to get to the bottom of what happened leading up to the MEDSTAR shutdown, but there have been questions from some commissioners about Hawes herself, and the decisions she made.More >>

Showing up to show support; Lee County leaders did not discuss the suspended MEDSTAR program in Tuesday's County Commission meeting, but those who want to see the program and its pilots reinstated sayMore >>

Showing up to show support; Lee County leaders did not discuss the suspended MEDSTAR program in Tuesday's County Commission meeting, but those who want to see the program and its pilots reinstated say they'll keep showing up until something is done.More >>

The director of Lee County EMS has retired and the deputy director has been placed on administrative leave in the latest fallout from the MEDSTAR shutdown fiasco.More >>

Long-time Public Safety Director John Wilson retired effective immediately and EMS Chief Kim Dickerson is on paid administrative leave after a series of NBC2 Investigations into the sudden shutdown of the MEDSTAR helicopter program.More >>

Estero Fire's assistant chief was livid at Tuesday's Lee County Commission meeting - saying the county should never have questioned why they called for a medical chopper to help in an accident.More >>

Estero Fire's assistant chief was livid at Tuesday's Lee County Commission meeting - saying the county should never have questioned why they called for a medical chopper to help in an accident involving two FGCU students.More >>

The six- to nine-month suspension is being done to reconfigure the program to meet national accreditation standards, according to county officials.

A total of four MEDSTAR employees, including three pilots and the director of operations, were laid off as the service was suspended as of 7 a.m.

The former employees will be allowed to re-apply for their positions when the program resumes.

The helicopters, one of which has only been in service since October 2011, are grounded. They will still be serviced and maintained at Page Field.

"People shouldn't worry... during this time, if they need helicopter service, we will rely upon mutual aid from either our neighbors to the south or through the private sector to the north. We're covered anyway. Even if our helicopter is down, we rely upon these assets anyway," said Lee County Public Safety Director John Wilson.

That mutual aid will reportedly come from Collier County, as well as locations towards Tampa.

The county says it will redesign the MEDSTAR program to meet standards set by The Commission of Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems for patient care.

Part of those standards include having a critical care nurse aboard during flights. Currently, teams fly with two medics aboard.

The medics were not dismissed and will be reassigned to ambulances.

We asked EMS chief Kim Dickerson two questions via email about the shutdown

NBC2: Were there some standards that were not being met, thus compromising patient care more seriously than shutting down the program would?

Dickerson:We are in compliance with our State and FAA regulations. We were not currently operating under the national standards. These standards and the accreditation itself are voluntary. The decision to redesign to national standards was based on a desire to improve our service level to the patients we respond to.

NBC2: Could you have worked toward accreditation without suspending all service?

Dickerson:We could have, however, it would have been difficult. We are seeking a flight operations director who has the national standards experience.

We also asked Dickerson why the pilots and director were laid off rather than retrained to meet the new standards

"We felt like the current team in place would not help us achieve our goal," she said.

NBC2 Investigator Karla Ray has learned the FAA had planned to conduct an inspection of MEDSTAR this week. With the suspension of the program, that inspection has been cancelled.

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